Gunsmithing Cerakote color advice needed
- Thread starter 19Scout77
- Start date
Is there a dark enough green that could be mixed with something like Savage Stainless to get some metallic look without lightening it too much?
you would be better off mixing the green with say Sniper Gray or even Burnt Bronze. That would darken the green and give you some metallic
Remember when blending colors you will always make your dark color darker. So adding titanium or other metallic to say foliage you will get much closer to the gray and loose your green. I would start with zombie green as a base which is very bright. By adding metallic gray you will darken the green. You will end up closer to your goal of a metallic foliage or ODG. Start with a base of 10 or 12 ML's of Z Green and then add the titanium with an I dropper mixing as you go. You will hopefully end up near 18 ML's where you can add an ML of hardener, spray and bake on a test subject.
Interested in how this turns out. I mix a lot of my own colors but don't have Z green on hand to test.
Interested in how this turns out. I mix a lot of my own colors but don't have Z green on hand to test.
Hey Danco, thanks for the info. I am curious as i have zero color mixing experience...i would think mixing a lighter metallic with a dark green would lighten the green. Your advice suggests otherwise.
Ideally, i will end up with a mil spec green or green beret green with a hint of metallic. Maybe a little lighter green but not much.
Ideally, i will end up with a mil spec green or green beret green with a hint of metallic. Maybe a little lighter green but not much.
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It's all about ratio. If you add 5 MLs of a darker green to 10 MLs of a ligher green you will get a shade 2/3rds towards darker than your lighter color. If you add 5 MLs of a lighter green to a darker green it will reverse. It's when you mix primary colors where that all changes. Gray is a shade of black/white. There is no pigment. So whatever you add is just making your primary color darker. So the ratio of gray will need to be very low. The OP's goals were just to add metallic to a green he already liked. By adding any other darker metallic to the green would just make it darker changing the shade. So you have to come up to that shade by starting with a green much lighter then adding gray to get there....along with the metallic.
I'm not sure how this would work with cerakote but you could add the metallic element separately. I used to make custom high end fishing rods. I used to add pigment to the epoxy finish on the handles by evaporating the solvent out of testors paint which just leaves you with dried pigment. By adding small quantities to the clear epoxy you would get colored epoxy. To make it metallic I would add small metallic sparkles I got at a hobby/crafting store. The effects where awesome. It might be worth a try to mix some of the sparkles into the green cerakote and do a test. The effects might be very cool. Something to play with I think. (I can't help myself sometimes when I get on a creative roll so I might have to try it soon!)
BTW I really like what I call Black Titanium. 3 ML's of Graphite Black to 15 ML's of Titanium gives you a cool dark metallic titanium. This is a good example of ratio. Just 2 more ML's of black make it way too dark. When it comes to the dark earth I don't buy a ton of different bottles. I have a large bottle of Benelli Sand which is Cerakotes lighest tan. By adding Benelli Sand to Graphite black in increments you can get any color of tan made from Coyote all the way past FDE. It's much cheaper and effecient that way.
FYI I am hardly an art genius. My wife is an artist who has taught me darn near everything.
This is what she does.
I'm not sure how this would work with cerakote but you could add the metallic element separately. I used to make custom high end fishing rods. I used to add pigment to the epoxy finish on the handles by evaporating the solvent out of testors paint which just leaves you with dried pigment. By adding small quantities to the clear epoxy you would get colored epoxy. To make it metallic I would add small metallic sparkles I got at a hobby/crafting store. The effects where awesome. It might be worth a try to mix some of the sparkles into the green cerakote and do a test. The effects might be very cool. Something to play with I think. (I can't help myself sometimes when I get on a creative roll so I might have to try it soon!)
BTW I really like what I call Black Titanium. 3 ML's of Graphite Black to 15 ML's of Titanium gives you a cool dark metallic titanium. This is a good example of ratio. Just 2 more ML's of black make it way too dark. When it comes to the dark earth I don't buy a ton of different bottles. I have a large bottle of Benelli Sand which is Cerakotes lighest tan. By adding Benelli Sand to Graphite black in increments you can get any color of tan made from Coyote all the way past FDE. It's much cheaper and effecient that way.
FYI I am hardly an art genius. My wife is an artist who has taught me darn near everything.
This is what she does.
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Thanks Dan! I have several friends who own body shops so I have access to all sorts of powdered pearls and metallic flake. That may be the ticket. I will post up the result. Clearly an economical way to start the experimenting.
bump
was surfing for a cerakote recommendation and you answered it perfectly .... your wife has amazing artistry talent brother
was surfing for a cerakote recommendation and you answered it perfectly .... your wife has amazing artistry talent brother
Looks like you're not the only one with this idea.
http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...ing/223584-another-cerakote-custom-blend.html
That's my rifle. I experimented with 19scout77's idea. That's my rifle. It is a 50-50 blend of Magpul OD green and Titanium. I was worried the metallic would not come through but it really did. What it needs is a coat of micro clear. The metallics look bad azz when wet but once cured it's much flatter. You can really see how light plays with the metallics in these two pics. One far away and one up close. They look like two different rifles. Makes it cool IMO. The rifle came out awesome but sadly I sold it (like I usually do to build another). Damn OCD! 
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